


Echoes From The Past

by Melethril



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Peggy Carter Feels, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-28 12:50:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7640917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melethril/pseuds/Melethril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I did not know you knew her."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Echoes From The Past

**Author's Note:**

> So this takes place after Winter Soldier and before AoU when Tony was still referred to as 'Stark' by Steve. I think that Steve deserves some love from me after I vented my frustration about his actions in Ca:CW, AoU and lately even the first Avengers movie.
> 
> He's Steve Rogers; this is who I think MCU should portray him as. A guy, who looks beyond his own pain/desire to help others; because Steve Rogers is just that good.

As Steve stepped into the care facility that was now the home of Peggy Carter, he looked forward to seeing her. However, he also dreaded it if he was honest. There was no way of knowing how she was doing, whether she knew what had happened these past seventy years, or whether she would start crying again at the sight of him. These were the hardest moments to bear. He hated causing her pain.

So, when he stood in front of her room, he was both glad and surprised to hear her laugh, which sounded as wonderful as ever. It was mingled with male laughter that Steve could not identify at first. He knocked softly, and was quickly granted entrance. He froze a little when he saw Stark sitting by her side. If the man was surprised to see him, he did not show it. Instead, he rose from his seat, far more gently and less flashy than Steve was used to witness, and spread his arms in a welcoming gesture.

“Steve! It’s good to see you,” said the man, sounding entirely genuine, which was surprising, given that they were on civil terms at best. The man’s chocolate brown eyes were warm and softened by the smile. For a moment, the soldier had no idea how to react, which was registered immediately by the other man, whose eyes and smiled dulled almost instantly.

“Auntie Peggy, I’ll let the two of you catch up,” said Stark, as he grabbed the elderly lady’s hand to kiss it affectionately.

“Anthony, please, you don’t have to,” said Peggy warmly, and a bit sad.

“I’ll be back in about an hour,” assured the middle-aged man kindly.

“Anthony, I know you don’t have time to sit in a cold hallway waiting for me,” she protested.

Elegantly, the man extracted a phone from his pocket, and said, “First of all, the hallway isn’t cold. Second, Sophie is a truly wonderful host who will make sure I get Catherine’s famous chocolate pie, so that is actually a great way to spend time. Besides,” he continued, looking at her fondly, “with my phone I can finish all the specs for the new upgrades, while chatting with Pepper, annoying Rhodey, and hacking into the pentagon security system simultaneously.”

“Anthony Edward Stark…”

“The latter of which I won’t do since you reprimanded me the last time I did that,” smiled Stark. The man had a really nice, kind smile, which Steve had seen about once or twice, usually aimed at Pepper Potts.

“Really?” he decided to interject. “How old were you?”

“Four?” Stark asked rather than stated, which was confirmed by Peggy. “The press simply heard about the circuit board I built, only the late president and a handful of others knew what I did with it.”

“May I see your schematics?” Peggy requested, looking curious.

“Auntie Peggy, you don’t have to…” muttered Tony, visibly squirming and looking anywhere but at the people in the room. Steve wondered who this man was and when he had replaced Stark as the man gently and enthusiastically explained his ideas for a new military communication device to Peggy, who seemed to enjoy every second of it.

“Has Anthony ever told you about his brilliant idea, which involved a blender, an oven and a silver spoon?” – “Aunt Peggy, don’t…”

Steve was howling with laughter less than one minute later and they did not stop reminiscing for over an hour. Steve added a few anecdotes himself, which made his audience laugh heartily.

Their merry round stopped abruptly as Peggy’s mind drifted away for a second. When she looked up again and saw Steve, the Brooklyn native knew instantly they had lost her for the time being. He was still unprepared for her tears, especially as she asked him why he had left. He almost lost it when she asked why they could not have their dance; in that moment, he felt so homesick it was like physical pain; his heart tightened, and for a brief moment of panic, he thought his asthma was back.

It got worse when Peggy saw Tony and froze.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Anthony Edward Stark, Peggy,” replied Tony calmly and a bit resigned. “Howard’s son.”

“What do you take me for? I am not an idiot. Anthony is only a baby. You have better chances claiming to be Howard; you look just like him.” Tony flinched visibly at her words. “Get out of here! Get out!”

Tony stepped away from her bed, and practically fled the room, but not without whispering, “Bye, Auntie Peggy.”

Steve managed to calm her down, and continued to soothe her until she fell asleep. As he exited the room, his eyes swimming with unshed tears and with a tight lump in his throat, he discovered Tony sitting on the wooden floor next to her room in his expensive suit typing away on his phone. He looked as if someone had gutted him.

“I should know better, you know,” muttered the billionaire seemingly nonchalantly. “It always ends this way. I don’t know why I still come here; I upset her more than I help. I always make her cry.”

Steve’s heart clenched again, but this time in sympathy. He leaned against the wall and lowered himself on the ground next to Tony.

“Because she deserves that we are strong for her.”

Tony snorted, muttering a derisive ‘some strength’; a jab directed against the engineer himself.

“I’m sorry, Tony,” apologized Steve. “I did not know you knew her.”

“She was…is my godmother. Her husband, Peter, he taught me how to…I guess you don’t want to hear that.” Tony looked away, and Steve swiftly grabbed Tony’s shoulder (careful – always so careful not to hurt anybody. Sometimes, he missed the days before the serum, when he could squeeze people as hard as he wished, and they would not break… would hardly be bothered by it), and whispered earnestly, “Tell me everything.”

 


End file.
